Leaders condemn Tasikmalaya's wave of violence

Leaders condemn Tasikmalaya's wave of violence

JAKARTA (JP): Politicians and religious leaders condemned
yesterday the violence in the West Java town of Tasikmalaya,
calling on the authorities to discover the root of the problem,
and resolve it.

"Such an incident should not happen again in other regions.
The most important thing is to determine the root of the problem
to prevent its recurrence," said Wahono, speaker of the House of
Representatives, quoted Antara.

"I am very concerned about the Tasikmalaya incident, and I
hope this kind of incident will not happen again. If there is a
problem, we should seek out the root cause," Wahono said.

Budi Hardjono, a House member from the Indonesian Democratic
Party faction, said the riot showed how precarious the situation
in Indonesia was, where an unsubstantiated rumor could spark
trouble.

Budi deplored the "irresponsible" behavior of some of the
police officers in Tasikmalaya, which sparked the anger of the
people.

Local officials said the unrest was ignited by a report that
three teachers from an Islamic boarding school were beaten in
police custody. The teachers had been summoned because the son of
one of the officers had been punished by the teachers for
stealing at school.

Hardjono said parents who sent their children to Islamic
boarding schools should not interfere in the way the schools are
run. "The school administrators know what they're doing. It is
only natural for them to punish students who violate the rules,"
he added.

Abu Hasan Sazili, a House member of the Golkar faction, called
for stiff punishment for the errant police officers.

"The Armed Forces and the National Police should take
disciplinary action," Sazili said.

The Communion of Churches in Indonesia, expressing
disappointment and deep concern over the incident, called on all
parties, including security officers, the Tasikmalaya people and
Christians everywhere, for restraint.

"Especially members of the churches, we call on them to guard
and respect the integrity of the law," the communion's executive
board said.

The violence "is difficult to accept by anyone for whatever
reason," they said. The incident was an attempt to discredit
religious communities, to disrupt peace and tranquility, to sow
mutual suspicion and to depress the people, the board added.

Church buildings

Several church buildings and other property were destroyed or
gutted by the mob in Thursday's riot.

"The incident is a demonstration of violence which we believe
can never resolve the problems, whatever they are, which face
society and the nation.

"In the name of all the churches in Indonesia, the communion's
board appeals to everyone, including the security forces, to
prevent and stop all forms of violence and abuse of power."

The chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Hasan Basri,
said the riot had nothing to do with religion.

"I'm convinced scrupulous and irresponsible persons mobilized
the masses to become destructive," Hasan was quoted by Antara as
saying.

This was not a conflict between one group of faithful and
another, he said.

This was more a social phenomena that could happen, at another
time, at another place, he said, adding the perpetrators had used
religion to mask their intention of stirring trouble.

Hasan called on everyone to exercise restraint.

"We regret the incident, which should not have happened, and
we hope it will never repeat itself," he said.

Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
warned of attempts to sow divisions in the nation, "something
which religious communities in this country have not fully
grasped", Antara reported.

Speaking in the Darussalamah Moslem boarding school in Way
Jepara, Lampung, Abdurrahman said religious communities in
Indonesia should continue to work toward national unity.

He regretted the attempt by some government officials to
dismiss that there are conflicts between religious communities.

"What about those fires?" he asked, adding they indicated that
grudges exist between people of different faiths.

Abdurrahman Thursday evening issued a statement deploring the
violence and calling on all NU members to refrain from taking
part in the incident.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said it was planing to
send a fact finding team to Tasikmalaya.

Foundation chairman Bambang Widjojanto deplored the police
behavior which caused the unrest in the first place.

"Violence by the security apparatus begets violence," Bambang
said. (emb/imn)